Playground Works
by Apelles
Summary: A playground of thoughts and writings, musings from the pages of Fai's diary, to Kurogane's unknown sword obsession, from Sakura's continous discoverys, to the depth of Syaoran's sanity. Ch.10 Eye of the Beholder
1. Ch1 Obsessed

Challenge creator: Chisis. Challenge name: Obessed

Requirements: Everyone is a little, or alot, obsessed about something. Write about one character from the point of view of another.

Characters: Any.

Length: Around 500 words. (The story itself is three words away from 600. Woot, go me)

* * *

"Kurogane-san?" Sakura called. 

"nuh."

"Kurogane-san, can we go now?"

"nuh."

Sakura sighed, putting down the bags she had been carrying for five blocks. She glanced around for a bench or a chair, and sighed again when she found none.

"I suppose this is what I get for taking so long in the store." she muttered under her breath, fingering a bit of lace near her collar. The soft material under her skin felt nice though, and she remembered how kind the sales people were.

It was their fault, really. They were the ones who made her try on all of those clothes.

Even in her mind, that argument sounded just plain silly.

"Kurogane-san, we've been looking at this for over half an hour now."

"Look at that one! The blade is a bit wider than normal, but it's balanced by the wrapped handle."

Sakura whimpered. "Kurogane..."

"A double edged Katana, with a Menuki! These guys are pretty good in their sword making."

"Syaoran-kun will be worried." This, Sakura knew, was not true, but it was the only thing she could think of that could get Kurogane to move.

"A Ninja To!"

'_So much for that…_' Sakura thought.

To make matters worse, the store owner, an old man of what seemed like 200, came to Kurogane with a smile on his face that the sales people had when she had walked into the clothing store.

"Ah, you are a fighter, no?" the old man said, his voice dripping with honey.

Sakura watched as Kurogane lifted his chin up, as if to say, of course.

"Have you seen our latest shipment? The Moro Barong?" The store owner practically jumped in his glee as he ran to the display case and back for the potential customer.

Kurogane took the handle of the sword and swung it around for a second before letting it rest on the tip of his finger. "A bit heavy for something so small." He grunted, and the store owner brought out another sword.

"How about this one? The Wakazaski Imperial series. The hilt is covered in ray skin and wrapped tightly."

Sakura saw Kurogane's smirk appear as he picked up this sword. He really liked this one.

"And here's a Katana sword with a bloodline."

"What kind of armor does it slice through?"

"Wood. Our stronger ones can go through metal."

"Nice." Kurogane licked his lips. He was really enjoying this now. "Any Wushus swords?"

The owner grinned, his wrinkles scrunching up his face until he looked like a dog. "Handcrafted nine ring sword. Cuts easily."

By now, Sakura knew she had been entirely forgotten as the two men continued their strange conversation.

Ah, well. What could be done? Kurogane would not come unless she either ran and got Fai to coax him out, or hope that Syaoran-kun would come and see her looking miserable in the window of the shop and rescue her. Yes, she liked that scenario the best. Indeed.

…but that scenario was sadly out of her reach, for Syaoran was stuck in the library, one of his obsessions, almost as strong as Kurogane's.

She sighed.

He'd be in there for _hours_.

"…and would the Lady like one too?"

At that Sakura snapped to, glancing at the two other people in the store and grimacing. Kurogane had apparently brought two swords, and was holding them with a tenderness normally reserved for a lover. Kurogane looked at her for a moment, and seeing her face agast, turned to the store keeper, making one eyebrow rised lazily above the other as he said, "Nah. Women, you know?"

* * *

Not one of my best, but I found it kinda cute. I was going to do Syaoran, but since I tend to favor him in all my stories (come on, he's my favorite character), I decided to do this challenge with Kuro, who is still fun. Besides, the relationship between Kuro and Sakura needed some action.  



	2. Ch2 A little Chat

Challenge Creator: Chisis  
Title: A Little Chat   
Summery: Write only a dialoge between two characters about the other two without mentioning who is talking. Also include no other description unless related to the dialoge.  
Rating: K  
Characters: Sakura and Kurogane.  
Length: around 500 words. (it's about 592 words total.)

* * *

"Kurogane?" 

"Hm? What?"

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Swing that sword at Fai."

"Oh, that? Because."

"Because what?"

"I hate him."

"Do you? Really? I would have never guessed. You seem to know so much more about everyone than you let on, but then you turn around and hit them."

"Fai's an idiot, Princess. I thought I told you that."

"You are like Toya when you smile. You have his grin. Or maybe he has yours. I'm not sure."

"Toy-yah? You mean your brother?"

"Yes. You two even look alike. At least, from what I can remember. Which is not much."

"He's a handsome brat with the ladies?"

"I don't know. Isn't that strange? I know he's my brother, someone I love, but technically this '_new_' me has never met him."

"Don't start that—Fai says that kinds of crap all the time."

"He's more like Yukito-san."

"Huh?"

"Yukito-san. The high priest. My brother's best friend. At least, I think so…They grew up together, so they must have been friends. Yukito has fair hair, like Fai, though not as long."

"Do you compare everyone in this group with your brother and his friend?"

"No. Just you and Fai-san. I have no idea who to compare Syaoran-kun to. He doesn't quite fit in somehow. Odd."

"Me and Fai are the 'lucky' ones in that case, eh?"

"I suppose that depends on if you think being compared to my brother is nice."

"You tell me."

"Yes. It is."

"So who is this brother of yours? Is he like you? (If that's the case, you country a stupid sitting duck waiting for lions)"

"No, not at all. He's controlling, but then again, he is king."

"What, you saying I'm controlling?"

"Only when it comes to people you want to protect. I think Toya would approve of you."

"Can he fight?"

"Um…yes, he has a sword."

"What kind?"

"I don't know. I never liked it. It looks too big and clumsy. He's very good at it, and he polishes it alot. That's something he's very proud of."

"Humph."

"Fai and Yukito would like each other, I believe. They both like magic."

"Fai doesn't."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, Princess. Hand me that hammer."

"Here you go. Do you need Fai to help you with that?"

"Just hand me the stupid tools. I don't need that idiot. Tell me more about this brother of yours. Is he tall?"

"Not really. I mean, you are much taller and you have broader shoulders than he does."

"Good. I like that."

"But in his mind he's the strongest man there ever was. It was mostly just a show to put on when a suitor came by for me. I think he would have kicked them out with his bare hands had he not been asked politely by Yukito-san _not_ to."

"Doesn't let anyone near his princess. Sounds like a good ninja."

"I don't have enough memories to know him for sure, but even when he seems…slightly…er…"

"Overprotective."

"Yes. That's it. Overprotective. Even when he's like that, I don't think he means it. Or, I hope not."

"Why not? You don't want some snobbish little ass stinking up your palace with his blood all over the place because he came to close to the princess, do you? It's best to keep em' away, or chop him up at the door. That's what I did. Sucker died last two seconds, stained the damn carpet, hehe."

"You're grinning again."

"I'm thinking happy thoughts, Princess. Hand me the saw."

* * *

Ok, ok, so I changed around the challenge a bit. Not much though. It was a dialoge between two characters (Kurogane and Sakura. Two chapters in a row staring those two. I love them and am so saddened by the fact that no one else is willing to write a single scene that is simply exploring their relationship.Gosh dang it, now I'm ranting), and it was about one other character, Sakura's lovable brother Toya. (The spelling for Touya was based off the english Dey Ray manga version purely for the reason it was the fastest to type. Yeah, even authors get lazy).  



	3. Ch3 Ghost

Title: Ghost  
Challenge: What kind of ghost would haunt a member of the TRC gang for a while? Write about it from the point of view of the ghost.  
Rating: K  
Genre: Kinda humor  
Characters: One of the TRC gang. No secondary characters in this one.  
Length: It's not terribly long, though I probably stretched it out more than I should have

* * *

Miki sat on a cloud twirling her fingers around a thin bit of brown hair. She was floating on the air, making sure the cloud was beneath her and that she wasn't about to be blow off by some ill fated wind (That's what winds that knocked off ghosts from their clouds were, after all; ill fated). 

On this particular day, on this particular hour, on this particular road, tourists roamed fearlessly and flocked the stores with mass numbers. Miki had to pause a moment and remember how many weeks she had been up in the sky looking at stars until she understood why all these foreign people were here. It was then, for an abnormal reason or another that Miki decide now would be as good as any time to haunt someone.

Summer, thought Miki as she flew in-between the crowds, looking to a fro from one person to the next, for the perfect victim. The perfect victim was always someone who was just stupid enough to fall into her trap, and just suspicious to believe it was a ghost.

By midmorning, Miki had already had some fun; she hid a store owners keys, scared a cat into scratching an annoying kid's hands, went to the local temple and rang the bells, and stood next to tourists taking a picture (which would make the finished photo blurry). Her fun; however, did not quench the boredom that she had. Yes, indeed, Miki needed to find haunt someone interesting today.

Oh, she was not going to do anything horribly mean and cruel to whoever she choose; she was just going to give them one day of bad luck. Making them forgetful, getting them lost, spilling things on them; fun like that.

Miki explored the tourist shopping area for anyone cute, handsome, or stupid. After all, she figured, if you are going to haunt someone for a whole day, it might as well be someone worth looking at, right? It was in pursuit of this person that Miki came upon a strange group of four tourists that seemed to be so out of place and comfort they were almost funny.

Almost abruptly, Miki noticed something was very aberrant about this group. Unlike the other tourists, who normally took out their little cameras and snapped pictures of themselves standing in front of the local shopping stores and temples, these people actually went in all of the shops, yet never bought a single thing. Tourists buy things, and act like doofuses for the amusement of the natives; that is their role, that is the only reason they were allowed to breathe the country air of this town, and these idiots were violating it. Thus, she was actually justified in terrorizing these souls. Miki grinned, and ignored the part of her that told her how much Angel would disapprove.

Swooping down to the street, Miki came closer to the group until she was close enough to see note the rough ages of each person. The two oldest were two fair looking men, one of them tall and lengthy, the other mean and bulky looking. They were arguing and teasing each other so much already Miki felt she would not need to do anything to them.

"God damnit!" The mean one shouted at the other. "We've been walking around this place for the past two fucking hours! Does that stupid meat-bun know where it is, or does it not?"

"Kuro-pi, you know that Mokona can't pinpoint exactly where it is," the lengthy one replied, his voice soft and even. "Besides, this is fun! I love shopping!"

Kuro-pi seethed at the man. "Idiot."

Miki moved from them to the true reason why she had come to haunt this group; the cutie in the back, who was obediently following behind the arguing men. He was handsome; floppy brown hair, puppy brown eyes, nice fair skin, muscular yet slim, an all around hottie.

Miki floated in front of him, looking into his eyes which were staring straight through her. She sighed, batting her eyes. Oh, what a pity she was not alive! Too engrossed in the cute boy's features, Miki did not become aware of the tingling feeling of being watched until the boy's head moved and a pair of shocking green eyes was locked onto hers.

Miki blinked, her moments hesitation allowing the boy to walk right through her form. The girl with the green eyes, however, did not move them, still staring at the space Miki was occupying.

Miki moved to her left, the girl's eyes followed her. Miki moved to the right, the girl's eyes followed her.

Now this was something interesting! This girl could see ghosts! Oh, how wonderful!

"Can you hear me too?" Miki fervently asked the girl. The girl nodded her head slowly, still not taking her eyes from Miki.

"Sakura-hime?" The hottie boy passed once more through Miki to the girl, "Are ok? You've been looking at the same place," the hottie seemed worried, by the way his brow dipped when he talked to the girl, Sakura.

Sakura finally glanced away from Miki to address the hottie. "No, I'm fine, Syaoran-kun. I was just…looking at something… odd."

Miki glared at her. Some impolite soul she was! To call her odd, when she was the foreigner. Well! That was simply not going to be stood for!

Syaoran put his hand on her arm reassuringly, not entirely sure whether or not to take her word. He seemed still undecided when he took her hand in his, but did not push the issue. "Come on, Fai-san and Kurogane-san are up buying some food. Do you want some?"

Sakura smiled. "Yes please"

Syaoran turned and walked through Miki again—she was now getting quite a bit annoyed with him walking through her like she was nothing, even though he was a mortal—pulling Sakura gently along with him. She shot an apologetic look toward Miki.

Now Miki was angry. She floated right behind the couple, looking with great infuriation at their joined hands.

"Hey!" Miki called. "Hey! Don't you know it's rude to stare at the dead?"

When the two teens caught up to their companions, Miki was right with them. The girl watched at her with questioning eyes.

What are you doing? They asked.

Miki glared at her. She seemed somewhat smart, a bit dense, but nobody's perfect.

"What?" She said loudly for the girl. "You think everyone here can see and hear me?"

Sakura glanced around, than slowly shook her head.

'God, why doesn't she just talk?' Miki thought irritably, but decided not to push it…yet.

"Well, there you have it." Miki nodded her head just once, as though to prove a point. "I haven't had anyone that can actually talk with me in a couple years. So, I figure, I'll just haunt you for a few days."

Sakura had been handed a fizzy red drink, and right after Miki said that, she spit some back up.

"What!" She looked in full at Miki, her pink lips open. Miki thought she looked like a fish.

"Princess? Did you say something?" Syaoran asked, his face questioning.

Her face grew red under his glance, and Sakura stuttered a quick, "No, yes. Well, I …um …cut! I cut my finger on something." She then pressed her index finger to her lips in a weak imitation of trying to stop the 'blood'.

"Need a band aid?"

"Mokona got ban' aids!" a squeaky voice popped up from the girl's bag.

Miki looked down just in time to catch a bit of movement. "Do you have something alive in there?" she asked Sakura.

"No!" she said quickly.

Kuro-pi looked at her. "Did you say something, kid?"

"No, no, I didn't." Her face was beginning to redden from the quizzical glances in her direction.

Sakura quickly excused herself, turning herself so that her arm linked with Syaoran's and dragged him backwards. "We'll be right back!"

Fai's gaze stayed at Sakura's back for a few seconds before he returned to his meal, shrugging.

Miki followed the two teens as they hurried back into the safety of the crowds. Sakura did not seem to consider where she was leading the boy to, as long as they would not be overheard. She would continually peek back over her shoulder to see if Miki was following, and when she saw the dead girl, her face gave away an odd expression, giving Miki the impression the girl had really no idea what she was doing.

Sakura brought Syaoran into an alley between two pawn shops, where there were enough tourists and their little monstrous children shrieking and blabbing that no one would pay them any heed.

"Syaoran-kun, we have a visitor," she explained swiftly, in part, Miki believed, because she wanted to justify her strange actions.

One brow of his went up a little. "A visitor?"

"Yes, a ghost." She than looked straight at Miki. Syaoran saw her eyes move and looked around, as though he could catch a shine or glimmer of the ghost.

"It's a girl. She's standing right next to you." Sakura continued. At this Syaoran moved his arm, driving his elbow right through Miki's ribs. "Now your arm is in her."

His reaction was quick and he snapped his arm out. "oh, sorry." He shot an apologinic glance to where he supposed Miki was (he was about a meter off).

Miki sighed. "That's ok, happens all the time." She looked to Sakura to relay what she had just said.

This was going to be a fun day, Miki thought, grinning as she was Sakura talk to Syaoran. Poor girl had no idea what Miki was going to do. Ah, how nice.

* * *

After a full month of being absent from FFnet, and I post this stupid thing? I am horrible.

The outcome of this challenge was alright, I suppose, though nowhere near where I wanted it to be. The character of Miki, as much fun as I tried to have with her, just somehow did not seem to match up with all of other characters. I had originally planned a cute scene where Miki teases Sakura about Syaoran, but I realized that it was best to end it where it was and not continue past a certain point. That's the problem with introducing a new character, making the character believable to the readers and having the new character agree with all the others. I guess that's really up to the reviewers whether this was a good attempt or bad.


	4. Ch4 Dear Diary

Title: Dear Diary   
Challenge: Write a few diary enteries that Fai would write. Try to put yourself into the character of Fai and make it an honest reflection of him.  
Rating: T--kinda. There's a fun bit at the end which hints some things about Fai  
Genre: humor  
Length: meh, a few enteries. I somehow picture Fai writing small notes while he is drinking tea next to the fireplace  
Extra requirement: include a list of foods in the enteries. (I peronally love the foods I listed)

* * *

I found this on a vender's cart. I did not really want it, but the vender simply would not leave me alone, so I bought it—bargain price, naturally. 

Sakura said she thought it was cute. She said I should trying writing for a few days while we are "in town". Why not? When we leave, I won't take it with me, of course, but that doesn't mean someone else can't find this and read themselves a good bedtime story, no? It lucky, I suppose, or fate, that right now our jobs are in a small bookstore. The bookstore is owned by a petit lady named Mab.

Mab knows the witch.

Day 3 5:34 p.m.

I learned more about Mab today. She has four children. One died. The other three are grown. She has eight grandchildren. She calls them, "snot nosed-belly-upums." Mab's passion is gardening and books. Her wrists have something wrong with them, and it hurts to move them. Her fingers are swollen from years of hard work, so she can't garden as much as she used to. Her eyesight is also failing, slowly but surely, and Mab say's she growing old.

When I asked about her husband, Mab turned to me and grinned, saying, "Oh, he's somewhere dead, hopefully. Drank like a horse, the bastard, but you love him."

I like Mab.

Day 4 9:12 p.m.

Mokona says that the feather is around here somewhere in the town. The town is small, so I don't think it will be a problem finding it.

Kurogane is quite out of place here, so Mab has him fixing up her house. He hates it, but he does it.

I think he likes Mab.

Meanwhile, I have been helping out in the shop, since I am much more customer friendly. Sakura tends to distract the people walking by the shop so much Mab wanted Sakura to work more so than me.

"She's pretty, and a girl," Mab said, while watching Sakura being ogled by the young boys walking home from the local school. I told her no, since Sakura had something to do.

"Damn." Said Mab, "How about if she sits in the window for a bit?"

Syaoran was watching us from the corner, pretending to read.

Day 6 10:47 p.m.

The feather has still not been found, though it is not because of difficulty. Sakura and Syaoran have been searching around town, taking so much more time Kurogane actually came up to me today.

"When the hell are they going to find it?" He growled. Poor Kurogane. He had by now finished Mab's broken cupboards, stairs, a bookshelf, a wheelbarrow, her shed, the leaking roof in her sunroom, two rocking chairs, and now he was building a small rocking horse for one of the snot-nosed kidums.

I told him not to worry, I was sure they were working hard at it. Kurogane huffed at me, saying, "Bullshit. They are so damn close to each other it's sickening."

"I thought that was a good thing."

"The kid's too damn happy, and we're not leaving. I don't like that."

"Sakura's happy, too."

"I don't even want to know."

He left soon after that, and a few minutes later Sakura and Syaoran walked in, whispering and giggling. Over the past few days, something has been going on between them. I don't know whether it was Sakura or Syaoran that started it, but I have the feeling it must have been Sakura.

From the way they avoided me, I figure something more must have happened today.

Day 9 3:56 p.m.

A girl that had a stunning resemblance to Chi walked into the store today. I was a bit unprepared for the surprise, so when she came up to me, I could not responded. Thankfully, she only asked me for a picture book. She then asked me to wrap it.

"A present?" I asked, my nerves still on high for anything that seemed unusual about her.

"Yes." She said, "For my daughter." I looked down. On her finger rested a small, yet brilliant stone, white and shinny. Expensive, but not overly showy.

"Ashrua." I said, staring straight into her eyes for her reaction. To my relief, her eyes stayed on mine, and she did not blink. From her movements, her breathing did not increase nor decrease, no shifting weight from one foot to the other, no hair flick, nor any other form of deception I could think of.

"Pardon?" She was perfectly innocent. She was not here for me.

"All done, madam" I said, handing the package to her. She walked out the door, to be greeted by a tall plain looking man.

Day 11 11:23 a.m.

Sakura kissed him.

Today was the second time I noticed. The first time was in the evening last night. They had disappeared for a few minutes, when Sakura was getting herself ready for sleep, I suppose, and Syaoran must have just wanted to say good night. He can down a few after a while, holding his hand to his cheek, his face flushed.

He could not get to sleep for the rest of the night. I could tell by the sound of his irregular breathing and the occasional sighs and moans. He was having good dreams.

This morning she must have done it again, for he has been in a blissful mood all day long. His emotions are sadly a bit too transparent, as well as his constant glances back to where Sakura has been helping Mab. She is not much better, though she is able to control her urges a bit more than he. I assume the moment she gives him a rewarding smile or wink, he'll be at her side before I can stop him. I do only hope that Kurogane won't catch them in the act, for I fear their desire may lead them to do some impulsive actions which require little modesty and are not suitable in front of an audience.

I wonder if that means we may need to rearrange the grouping to maintain decency?

Day 12 4:12 p.m.

I am shopping right now. Mab sent me and Sakura out, Sakura is getting some red looking things called 'tomatoes' (Mab drew pictures on the list.) So far I've crossed out 'carrots' (orange things), bananas (yellow things), potatoes (which, I am relieved to say, are still brown), and fish (disgusting, really. It still had its head attached).

My, this is exciting!

Day 14 4: 13 p.m.

I gave the list to Sakura to figure out the rest of the items ('cereal', walnuts, 'watermelons' and coffee). She has been in a wonderful mood as of late. I wonder if she has a memory of the talk. She if doesn't remember it, then we might be in a predicament. Kuro certainly won't say anything. While I do enjoy the subject, my expertise is somewhat limited to one gender—and women aren't it.

Mab might be willing to assist me in the discussion.

Day 14 4: 15 p.m.

In fact, I just get Mab to talk to her. She would know more than I, anyways.

Day 14 4:23 p.m.

The grocery boys here are quite nice looking.

Day 14 4:26 p.m.

I see one among the fruits. He has blond hair and freckles. He is poking at some fruity victim.

Day 14 4: 30 p.m.

Come, little grocer boy, come.

* * *

In case one could not tell, my favorite part about this whole challenge is the bit at the end. Whether Fai would openly stalk the grocer boy or not is something I'm still debating. I think he'd go for it. 


	5. Ch5 Kings v the people

Title: Kings vs the People The Challenge: test the believability of politics in your story by writing about what a character really thinks of a other dimension's form of government. Keep in mind the character's backround (what you know of it), and personality. (Don't substitute the character's complexity for fluff or romance. For instance, Sakura won't magically start to want equality for all just to be able to marry Syaoran. She is a princess, and will be queen. Chew on that a bit) Rating: in light of some things mentioned in here, I keep it around T.  
Genre: ...pensive, from the character's point of view, of course  
Length: 1400 some words. I like this challenge. It was fun to get into  
Extra Challenge: work in the title of rock song or two (see if the reviewers can catch it) (and just so you readers know, there's 3 songs I put in there in the last minute before uploading this. Needless to say, they're not well hidden...)  
Characters: Centers on Sakura, for once, while the rest are most backround noise

* * *

Sakura's eyes slowly went over the red stone figures, trying to nurse the churning sickness in her stomach. Everything was going to be alright soon, she thought over and over as she continued walking. Though having the ghastly face of red rock stare down at her with goggaly eyes and large noses was a bit unnerving, to say the least. 

Besides the idols, there were other symbols around that truly disturbed her. Having religion was one thing, but open iodization of oneself? How did _this_ come about? All around her were tall wood cuttings, out in the open markets of the arena. At first, it was easy to simply ignore it, for Sakura was simply ignorant of what was actually around her. Upon closer inspection, however, and a gasp, Sakura realized what the thing that had been lurking on the tables of the merchants next to other symbols of gods and heroes. A true, most obscene, sculpture of that certain male pride and the true embodiment of masculinity.

Sakura had been too flabbergasted to do much other then move quickly away from the table and the merchants to her companions, also male, only to move just as quickly away from them for fear that they knew what she had just seen. Thank goodness for the kindness that they showed her, taking her embarrassment and turning it into something less humiliating, allowing her to keep her dignity. Though listening to Syaoran-kun explain his analysis of this dimension's history was no less taxing on her than the vision of the sculpture.

"Men and women have always sculpted themselves," he said to Fai, who seemed to be the only person remotely interested about this world. Kurogane had done anything but eat since they arrived, and did not put forth any inclination to do much else. Sakura could not even bare look at Syaoran, else her face would burst into a deep red hue. "Gods, for instance, always bear a human resemblance at first, until they are changed over the years. The differences between males and females always play an important role in determining a system of power. Sometimes the woman is higher up than the man, for she bears children--"

To hear Syaoran-kun talk so bluntly about a woman's pregnancy sent Sakura into another frenzied blush and a fresh new wave of embarrassment. Didn't he know that such matters were not for the ears of royalty?

"--and other times it's the male that's the power holder, for physical strength may be more important to the culture at the time."

"So what?" Kurogane said, the first words he had spoken in over an hour. "People are all messed up anyways. Who cares?"

Fai raised his eyebrow at the man. "Hello, Mr. Brightside. You're in a pleasant mood."

Kurogane grinned back, making sure his canine teeth showed. " I had nails for breakfast, and tacks for snacks." Fai rolled his eyes.

"Yes," Syaoran continued, unaware of Kurogane's rude attitude. "Having a woman or male in power says much more about a culture than history books." he paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "When a primitive culture appoints a woman to the head of power, it can mean that, at that time, they were more concerned about building the population and creating more of their people. Women means life, thus, a woman is the mightiest person."

Sakura still avoided his eyes, though she had a strong feeling she was being watched by him as he said this.

"And men?" Fai's tone was curious and respectful at the same time.

"Men mean strength and power. Primitive cultures appointed men to the throne when they wanted to gather land, war with other nations, things of that nature."

"Interesting. And you figured all that out from the statues?"

Sakura needed to get out of here. She briskfully walked away her male companions over to a shop that had little trinkets hanging from wooden limbs. They were the same symbols (even the naughty one) that she had been seeing for a while.

What a strange government, she thought as she touched one of the trinkets, making it swing back and forth on its chain. It relied on religion too much to run its country. Religion was a fickle thing in itself, and to have it be the main source of power? She was surprised this country managed not to have been run into the ground by much stronger nations.

Sakura looked up and saw another idol, this one in gold with red diamonds for eyes.

"Their king must be like a god," Syaoran-kun was saying, also looking up at the same idol Sakura was. "In many cultures, people believed the King or Emperor was appointed by a higher power or two."

Well that just silly, Sakura thought, but did not say anything. Syaoran-kun was in one of his moods, and to say anything now would spur him to not stop talking until he had exhausted everyone else's ears off.

But it was silly. To have a king appointed by god? Again with religion, which could hardly keep up with its own rules. How would people expect the King to remain the same and not persecute everyone in sight when he was in a mood?

"...whenever a drought or a bad farming season came, a rebellion would happen, and a new one would be put in place," continued Syaoran-kun.

These people must be idiotic. What was to keep whoever sliced off the old King's head from turning into the exact same totalitarian that was bound to come of such things? In Clow, Sakura remembered, it was the people who would appoint the King in time for battle or war. It just happened to be convient afterwards to allow the children of the King (if he was a good commander) to be groomed and appointed King or Queen afterwards, and so on and so on until the line ran out. If the King had no blood heir, or no heir at all, then the people would appoint a new King. It was an odd system, and Sakura wasn't entirely sure it that was correct, but for her country, it had worked.

"...and inbreeding happened regularly, too. It was too keep the 'royal' blood within the family. That's why there was the occasional mad Prince or..."

The system was terribly good at marrying people off. It created alliances and treaties, and if nothing else, another heir to be groomed. The trouble normally laid in who to chose and why. Only fairly recently did the thought come that the princes and princesses that were to be married off have at least some choice in their future partner. Normally it was arranged anyways, but Sakura remembered hearing of a princess or two shedding more than a bucket of tears not to be married off to a pimply duke's son.

"...had six different wives, who gave him three sons and one daughter. The sons tended to not live very long, but the daughter eventually grew to be the most powerful..."

There was the occasional chance happening of true love between the monarchs of two countries. Sakura was sure her father loved her mother. Both intellectual people, they ran the country with an "educator's hands." They did not like war or fighting of any kind, and therefore encouraged the artistic, spiritual, and intellectual widening of their people. New ideas came from many people of different nations and funds were proved for those such as historians and musicians that would not have had a chance otherwise.

"...shaped her country like never before. For the first time, a predominate middle class rose and was given them political power..."

As she tuned in and out of Syaoran's analysis, Sakura wised she had more memories. Times like this reminded her of being a princess. Yet she wasn't really sure what kind of a princess she was. All those memories were in feather forms, scattered around who knows how many dimensions.

"Syaoran-kun?" she asked, interrupting him in mid-sentence. Syaoran-kun did not seem to mind as he turned all his attention on her. "Yes?"

"Was I a good princess?"

The intensity in his eyes lessoned, and he looked at her in a way she had never seen. It both scared and warmed her, to be looked at like that. She began to nibble on her lip, waiting for his answer.

"Yes," he finally said, taking a deep breath, the corners of his lips turning upwards into a gentle smile. "You were, and are, and excellent Princess, your Highness." he then offered her his arm, still smiling at her and looking at her. Sakura could feel her face warm up, yet she took his arm and let him lead her through the afternoon crowd.

A phrase her father once said to her floated through her mind as Sakura felt Syaoran-kun's warm skin against hers. "It is not the man that makes the country great. It is the people that hold the man up that makes the country great."


	6. Ch6 Indecisive

Title: Haircut  
The Challenge: Write anything in 10 minutes. Included the two phrases: "What's the worst that could happen?" and "Noone has done this to me in a while"  
Rating: KGenre: humor  
Length: Dabble. It's 210 words total

* * *

"Do you really think so?" The boy looked at him with those large pleading eyes of his. 

He was not sure. Fai was.

"Oh, sure! I diffenly think you should do this!" He looked at him, then at the objects in the man's hands, then back at him.

"I'm not sure..."

Fai rolled his eyes. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Brown eyes looked up again, full of doubt. "What if..."

Fai resisted wrapping his fingers around the boy's neck and shaking. He would simply smile and nod, and if all else failed, throw him down and tie him up.

"...what if something weird happens?"

And tape his mouth.

Fai tapped his knee impatiently. "Like what? " He said through gritted teeth.

Tap, tap, tap. His brown eyes followed the hand up and down for a bit, then turned to him once more.

"No ones done this to me in a while."

Tap, tap, tap. "All the more reason to do it now." Tap, tap, tap. "It's healthy." he added.

Syaoran nodded, as though that explained everything. He looked again at the objects in Fai's hands. "It won't hurt?"

Now that was it! Fai threw up his hands, exhaling. "IT A HAIRCUT, FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"


	7. Ch7 Lucky Number 7

Title: Lucky number 7

The Challenge: Write something that has to do with luck and the number 7

Rating: It's pretty tame. K

Genre: General.

Characters: the main five TRC members.

Length: It's 2287 words long. Pretty good for a challenge.

* * *

"Alright, we're all set." Syaoran said, nodding to Mokona. The creature opened its mouth until it was reasonably sized to suck in the four participants in the dimension hopping journey. 

To the untrained eye, it looked terribly painful. Each of the four human's limbs was stretched into thin pasta like-replicas of arms and legs. Their torsos and lower abdominal sections twisted and contorted until the whole body was able to slip into the mouth of the creature, with a small "slurp!" note after the figures had vanished into , literally, thin air.

As Mokona's mouth drew closer, each part of his body was given an odd tug, almost like that of a dog trying to drag along an unwilling victim. Syaoran made sure to keep his chin tucked into the nook in his collar bone. He placed on hand on top of the Princess's head, and one around her waist, a move which by now he had almost mastered besides the occasional and embarrassing slip-ups (the word, "banishment" would flash in his mind each time).

For his toes and legs, he had to make sure they were not stiff. One time, he had made the mistake of locking out both his legs like a stiff board. The landing was not only ungraceful, it caused a jolt of jarring pain to jump up all the muscles and bones up to his hips which enabled him to walk for a good hour. Fai, who had taken up the position of 'doctor' a few worlds's past, examined the legs once and told him they were not broken.

Once more, the ground was rapidly approaching. Syaoran winced.

They were heading in head first.

Dimension-hopping truly was an art form. It required a fit body, some wits, and a dash of pure luck. The luck part, however, varied from place to place. For example:

Landing feet first on a sandy beach--Good luck. Nice, soft, and preferably with coconuts a short distance away.

Landing feet first in water-- Lucky, but be prepared for water-up the nose and fishy friends that think you're their next meal.

Landing headfirst on a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere-- Good luck. As long as you know to quickly roll onto your shoulder, careful not to dislocate anything, and continue rolling, you're fine.

Landing headfirst in the middle of a cobbled stoned street--Bad luck.

Landing on top of the other group in the middle of a cobbled stoned street--Good luck. At least, for the moment. But you needed to get off quickly.

As the ground rushed up on them, Syaoran's vision was simply a field of green. What kind of green, grass or prickly weeds, was undeterminable as it came closer.

"What is it?" Sakura murmured into his chest.

"A field. Get ready to-" the next part of his sentence was cut off as they slammed into the ground. Whether the rest of the group ranged from good to bad luck, Sakura always had the amazing fortune to land on someone (equaling, of course, good luck).

Syaoran's instinct quickly took over and he started to roll, making sure not to poke or prod too much into the person smothered up against his chest.

When they finally came to a complete stop, dizzy but otherwise unhurt, they heard their other companions.

"Hey, you two. You okay?" Fai called.

Sakura looked down at Syaoran. The position they were in, one that Syaoran was sure he would have to pay some time in hell for, had caused a flush of awkwardness and embarrassment the first dozen times. Now, however, they came to view it as something to cope with, and as long as they got off each other quickly, that was all it was going to be. (They had even joked about it once, before going silent for the next hour.)

"I'm fine, but your elbow is in my stomach."

"Oh, sorry," Sakura moved and pushed up off him, discreetly covering her face with her hand to hide the blush she imagined to be parading around on her cheeks and nose.

"We're fine," Syaoran answered, giving a once over to make sure he really was alright.

"Okay, that's great. Now then, Kuro-bubba, can you see a town or--"

"NO FEATHER!" Mokona's scream slide in between Fai's words. "LEAVING! BYE, BYE WORLD!"

"Wah!" The words barely graced Syaoran's ear before the familiar tug became again.

Sakura was as equally unprepared and gave a sudden squeak before lunging at Syaoran again. She had barely managed to wrap her arms around his torso before they were whisked up into the dimension's swirls.

"So soon?"

"I guess..." he answered, blinking to adjust his eyes to the sudden darkness. He felt a pull at his foot. Glancing down, he saw Fai and Kurogane behind him.

Kurogane was having a fit. "Didn't that stupid bun PROMISE to fricking TELL US when we're leaving!" His rage steamed off for the next minute as they traveled through the cosmos.

"We're landing again!" Syaoran announced, watching as the rip to the next world came closer.

Landing, he realized soon after, was the wrong word.

Looking down, a good mile or two below, was the planet. It looked as pretty from this distance as it did frightening. But that good feeling he had a second ago jumped out of his body as soon as he realized that they were falling, quickly, through nothing but air and fluffs of cloud parts.

Sakura's arms gripped tighter around his torso and he held on to her, trying to keep her head in his chest and away from their surroundings, least she faint. The thought made him sick.

He glance at his foot, seeing Fai and Kurogane close by, within kicking distance, but too far away giving their predicament. Fai was trying to mouth something, pointing upwards with one finger, the other hand trying to keep his hair from whipping his eyes blind.

Unable to read the magicians lips, Syaoran shrugged, inwardly cursing their language barrier.

"MOKONA!" He yelled, straining his neck muscles to look to the sides. The wind was blasting up against his body, making almost any movement difficult. Seeing the creature nowhere, Syaoran gritted his teeth and took quick breaths through his nose. Not sure how to turn his and Sakura's bodies around, he pushed his shoulder forward, turning his head sideways, then rolled.

He rolled once, then started to flip. Realizing his mistake, he cranked his neck down to put his mouth to Sakura's ear.

"I'm gonna need my arms!" he yelled, hoping she heard. "Whatever you do, don't let go!"

"Alright!" She yelled back.

He flung his arms outward, hoping that they would help him turn. Once glance down made him double his speed. The ground, once a nice small circular bit almost two miles below, was taking up much more of his eye's flied vision, less then a mile.

'We're falling like rocks!' the fleeting thought blinked in his mind before returning to finding Mokona.

He flipped over once more, Sakura held on, and then he saw a speck of white amongst the blue sky. Its ears were sticking straight up from it rollie-pollie body.

"MOKONA!" Syaoran screamed, his lungs gasping in painful gulps of thin air. "GET US OUT OF HERE!"

A small, over joyous voice answered, "okie-dokey!" And once more darkness crowded in on them, and they were being tugged once more to another dimension. Something squeezed Syaoran right foot. When he looked down, Fai gave him a 'V' sign.

"I knew you'd figure it out." Grinning he turned to Kurogane. "Right?"

"I am going to kill that fu--"

"We reattached ourselves right after we saw that Mokona read you." Fai said. "Lucky you were so close."

There was a trade off on the next world; a soft, lucky headfirst landing, but a furious Kurogane. As soon as their feet touched upon ground, he dived for Mokona, catching it right as it's feet made a imprint in the sand.

It gave off a loud squeal, "Aieeee! Kuro-pon angry!"

"You bet I'm angry, you little piece of crap!" His hands gave a merciless squeeze. "I thought you were gonna WARN us!"

"Mokona scared!"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled.

Fai turned to Kurogane, making sure to stay out of the other man's reach. He would for sure vie for Mokona, but he would not risk getting hit for it. "Kuro-won, come on now. You know for sure you can't kill it. You need Mokona to go home."

"Well THAT hasn't worked out!" Kurogane growled, his nostrils flaring. "Has it, you little brainless meat bun!" He squeezed again, exciting another high-pitched squeal.

Sakura gave a loud sigh from a few feet away where she was sitting cross legged. "Guys, stop that." Normally, her voice in these arguments was never heard, for she found them quite silly, though entertaining to some degree. Today was another story.

"We should probably get going so...soon," Her voice wavered a bit on the last syllable, a clear indication she was getting drowsy. Not enough to be too concerned about, but enough to keep an eye on her.

Kurogane turned from his game of "squeeze the Mokona" to the others. "Hey," his canine teeth glinted through his wicked grin. "Do you guys want to know how meat buns taste?"

"MOKONA LEAVING!"

"Not again!"

"Princess, grab--"

"Hoe!"

The next two worlds were both lucky, soft landings feet first, the first on some odd material that made them all bounce up a foot into the air before falling back once more. They had just heard the voice of a small boy ("Mommy! There are weirdoes on the trampoline!") before Mokona opened its mouth. The second landing was feet first into a pile of hay. The only eyes that greeted them on this world were that of a horse, chewing its meal.

"I think I'm getting sick." Sakura said as they entered the fifth dimension tunnel that day.

By the sixth world, the novelness of another new environment had long worn off.

"What the hell are you trying to DO to us!" Kurogane shouted as it opened it mouth again. "NO! STOP THAT! DAMNIT, FAI! LET GO!"

"Mokona, this is getting a little insane." Syaoran agreed. "We've been to 6 worlds. How many more to we have to go before we stop and rest a bit?"

"One more!" sounded the suprisingly loud answer from such a tiny body.

Once of Fai's eyebrow's lifted above the other. "Oh? Why the sudden need, Mokona?"

The alien eyes widened, and it clamped an ear over its mouth in a childish fashion. "Mokomph camph't say!" It's said through its ears. "It's a seeeeecreth!"

"Why you little--" started Kurogane.

"LAST WORLD!" Mokona announced, and before anyone could do much else, it sucked them up into the dark abyss.

Sakura and Syaoran held onto each other (Fai and Kurogane had grabbed onto Syaoran's left leg this time). They flew only a few seconds before they were dropped as unceremoniously as any. Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane all landed on their backs on hard ground. Sakura, with her well of luck, landed on top of a bed of bodies.

"We really need to figure this landing thing out." said Fai as he untangled his legs from Kurogane's and Syaoaran's.

"Now I do feel sick," said Sakura, hurriedly rolling off the pile and walking away a few feet before bending over with her hands on her knees.

The cover of night was above them, as where thousands of stars. As fate would have it, a small ratty shed with broken roof stood barely ten feet away. From the outside, it looked well used, but taken care of, for the most part. Syaoran walked to the shred and looked inside. Random tools decorated the walls, along with a few blankets neatly folded on a wooden chair. There was even a small pale with a lid.

"It looks like a farm shed." said Syaoran. "The farmers probably use this during the summer when they are working out here and it's too far to go home." Nodding, he turned to the others. "This seems as good a place as any. There are even some blankets in there we could use in case it gets cold. I doubt it, since it's pretty warm right now."

Fai tilted his head back. "Woot! After all that excitement, I'm exhausted!" His eyes flicked to Kurogane. "Aren't you tired, Kuro-wana?"

"Not until the meat bun tells us why the heck he that!" Kurogane had, in the moments of struggle and entanglement, seized a hold of Mokona again. He had one large hand around its body and the other was digging a knuckle into Mokona's head.

"Noogie!"

"Shut up!" snapped Kurogane. "Now you tell us why you did that!" He gave an awful twist.

After a few moments of sqealing and giggling, Mokona gave in. "Mokona dared Mokona!"

"What!"

Mokona giggled, "Mokona dared Mokona! Mokona said that Mokona could not jump seven times, but Mokona did and Mokona loses! Wieee!" Its little white eyelids closed, as it continued, "Didcha hear that, Mokona? Mokona jumped seven times! You owe me apples!"

Fai looked down at the creature with curiosity. "What in heavens name was that?"

"She's talking about the black Mokona," traveled Sakura's weak voice from where she was still bent over. "She talks to the black Mokona at night when she's with me. I hear her...ug..."

"Princess!" Syaoran rushed over to her side, leaving Fai and Kurogane to exchange glances at each other.

"Now that's something I never knew..." started Fai.

"Yeah. Since when is Mokona a girl?"

* * *

Author's note: I did have fun with this challenge.It was nice to take a break from Crash and concentrate for a good two hours on this. The result was nice, if not anything terribly memorable. I wasn't trying to reveal much with this fic, character or story wise. I did try, and that result was dreadful. It was best just to leave them both alone and play around with scenery. 

As for the characters, they were fun to write, however little their personalities appeared. Syaoran wasn't used for much else other than being the viewpoint character, and Sakura hardly got to do much other than hold on for the ride and say a sentence or two. Kurogane and Fai did have their small moment at the end, but it was used for the humor. Mokona provided the perfect means to tie this fic together, as well as the perfect justification.


	8. Ch8 The Animal Inside

Title: The Animal Inside 

The Challenge: Write a fic about one or two sides of the same person using some animalistic adjectives. Create a character out of a sense or an inanimate object that is mentioned throughout the story.

**Rating: Taking notice from my reviewers, I realize this chapter does require a warning for those who read it; It is what it sounds, and while I do not go into any detail, the act is still there and should be taken notice accordingly.**

Genre: angst.

Characters: Must be on of the four main TRC characters; Kurogane, Fai, Sakura, or Syaoran. No Mokona, no secondary characters.

Length: 1,367+some words. Not too long,really.

Syoaran hated himself for doing this. In the hours to come, he'd curse and swear at himself in small whispers late into the night. He hated himself. He hated this weakness of his.

And yet, as he moved his hand to the back of her neck, he did nothing to stop her. He wasn't sure if she really understood what she was doing. To her, it must feel good; this release of energy inside of her. She needed a release after all she'd been through, and even Syaoran considered this a better thing to do than punch things, as he was prone to.

But he was certain she did not understand what exactly this meant, or did not mean. To her, he was there, a person who she could experience such things without feeling much danger. The sense of danger was probably still there, she could feel it whenever he'd push her down, but that was part of his attraction. The fact that she could feel all this new things and be safe without fully letting him know her anymore than she wanted. That's where the danger came in.

After all, he was someone she didn't know.

"Ah, Syaoran-k..." the words faded away as she forgot what she wanted to say and continued. He wondered for a moment if there was anyone else who she had ever done this to, some odd noble or count from far away. He doubted it, and hated himself for thinking of such things while he had her so close by him. He looked down at her.

"Like this?" He heard her ask, the note of inexperience clear in her voice however much she was trying to control it.

"Uh huh." He said, moving his head a bit to help her.

It did feel good when he was with her. He was not so naive to believe that he did this purely for her; there was a creature inside of him that hungered whenever she brushed against him. It made his eyes turn to her late at night when she was between the state of wake and almost-sleeping. And it was what gave a lurch when she returned his stare and then went up the stairs into the room.

It was that open invitation that led him there; partly her and partly him. He wasn't sure who started it off, but that did not matter now. They were both to blame.

So be it, thought Syaoran, I don't care. It feels good.

You should care, said another voice. You should care a lot, in fact, you fool. You think it ends here? Ah no, no, no. It'll continue, you know, and then you'll be sorry, won't you? There are consequences for such actions; you just don't have the foresight to know them yet. But you when you do, you'll look back on this and ask yourself why.

She's to blame as much as me.

No, she's not. No matter what you think, you are taking advantage of her. Does she even know why she's doing this? No, she doesn't. She may look like she's as old as you are, as knowledgeable, as intelligent. But she is not. She never will be, as long as she's missing her memory.

I don't care.

You do, else you would be in this room in the first place doing this. You're selfish, she's selfish, and neither of you really understand each other. Not as long as she doesn't know who you are.

I know who she is.

Don't even think that. You don't know her at all. You're too young, too stupid. You knew her as a friend, and barely even that. She hasn't told you anything, boy, and when she does, oh man, you will be surprised. This, this, is nothing...

Syaoran gave a small sound as she went along the side of his neck, right above his beating vein. She continued her ministrations on him, happy with his reactions; he gave her the information she needed.

He moved onto his side, allowing her more exploration. She might have been inexperienced, but she certainly was not stupid. She was a princess after all, being in a castle with a bunch of servants. More than likely she heard more about the sexual nature of humans than he ever did from the men in the desert. After all, he was around a bunch of men, while she had both men and women to learn from.

"And this?" she would ask as she moved over him.

"Yeah." he breathed. He wasn't sure she heard him, and at the moment did not care.

The animal inside was hesitant. He was not sure exactly what to do, where to touch, or how to even voice his gratitude. The men in the desert loved to talk, and Syaoran would listen, laugh, and wave it off to give the impression that he already knew whatever it was they were selling, be it knowledge, skills, or just plain stories. And yet, he could not help but dissolve everything they bragged about. After all, they were older, so they must have figured it out, right?

He never dared to go to Fujitaka with his worries. The conversation would have made him miserable, and he was sure that whatever advice Fujitaka would have to offer would only add to his embarrassment of not being born with the sexual mastery ever other male seemed to possess. He was afraid he'd stumble on the first thing he'd ever do with a girl, and she would hate him, send him running out of her room, and laugh at him whenever he came near.

Sakura wasn't laughing, and Syaoran thanked whatever gods that were watching over them for her understanding. Or for her innocence, whichever it was that was keeping her from grimacing whenever his boldness guided his hands instead of his mind.

As they moved, Syaoran allowed himself to believe that they were normal, in the desert in Clow, and not on the third story of some building with tall red trees surrounding them. The fantasy would have been perfect had it not been for both of their insistence to create a boundary between them.

"Princess," he would say aloud, whispering her name in its purest form only in his mind.

"Syaoran-kun," she'd reply, occasionally with the –kun part tacked off when her breath could not manage the extra syllable.

Syaoran was sure that if he ever said Sakura's name alone, she would move away from him as quickly as possible. Her name was her last sanctuary. If that were to be carelessly violated, even in such a moment as this, the boundary would strengthen, and she would not consider allowing him to ever touch her again.

Syaoran was careful and gentle. He hoped his hands were not too callused against her. He asked her this.

"Shh…" she said, hushing him like a small child. "You're fine." Then she would return to where she was over him, and he would lie there, watching.

And then they would be quiet again, with the few sounds that they did make muffled. Their bodies represented the illusion of escape; together, they were as far away from everyone as possible. Should Fai, Kurogane, or Mokona learn of their night, the illusion would be shattered, and the escape gone.

Later that night, he would curse and swear and roll around in his bed. The creature inside would not be satisfied, he knew that now as he watched her above him, her hair creating a curtain around their faces. His body ached now, and it would later when her company was nowhere to be seen.

It continued until they had both released the energy inside of them. It was not perfect, and he had felt silly for the mistakes, but Sakura had not moved away from him, so he must have done something of worth to her. And when she laid her head down on his shoulder, he closed his eyes to listen to her breathing.

It felt nice, her warm body up against his. It was not as he'd imagined it when he was young in the dessert with the men. There was no sense of glory. There were mistakes. He did not feel older. Nor did any sense of wisdom enter him. Sakura was still a mystery, and as innocent as when she first returned his stare earlier that evening.

A while later, after her breathing turn from shallow and quick to deep and slow, Syaoran cursed and swore at himself until, at long last, he fell into a troubled sleep.

Author's note: I know I did not follow the challenge rules as well as I should have (Sorry Chisis.). The story is a not perfect, and it is even somewhat heartless and cold. I did not use any form of real expression of love here, nor did any real love come out. The normal adjectives used for these stories I carefully avoided, trying to concentrate on Syaoran's thoughts and feelings rather than that of the act they were doing. This is the 3rd attempt at the challenge, and much different from what I had orignially intended. The feedback I've gotten on this has been amazing, and I thank you all.


	9. OS Sakura's Thoughts

Author's Note: This is a** warning**: subject matter in this chapter is a bit more mature than I've written before. I do _not_ go into any detail at all, but just beware.

* * *

When Sakura woke that morning, she was quiet. Her thoughts were not the mixture of clouded confusion as she had imagined them to be. In fact, they were surprising clear of any thought one would normally have given to what she had done. 

It was not to say she did not feel regret. She did, a little, but that was soon overshadowed by the fact that there was nothing to do about it. What was done was done, and to worry about it would only create weakness. At the moment, there was the feeling of contempt and understanding.

The night before was mainly her doing, Sakura knew. Had it been left to Syaoran, he would have waited for an official royal note and a treaty of peace before he would have given her anything but a soft look or touch. Though it did not start out as mutual, she believed it evolved into something close to mutual during the night.

Sakura could see Syaoran when she turned her head slightly to the side.

He was kinder than she thought. Growing up in a castle had given her access to a particular well of knowledge from a group of people, everyone ranging from the servants to the guards to the cooks. Being a princess, the subject was never approached in her presence, and therefore Sakura had learned to develop light feet for such occasions that required ease dropping.

She never would go out looking for the servants or cooks or guards who loudly bragged to their companions after a night with so-and-so. Were she ever caught doing such, the humiliation alone would send her to her death, never mind the punishment. However, this did not stop her from listening in a fair distance away, unseen and unheard.

Men and women were very different in their acts. Sakura had learned quickly that the ones who did share their stories with others tended to make themselves greater than they were. From their stories, there was no real sense of commitment or affection, and yet there was always the sense of greater understanding, greater pleasure. Those who did have real affection were not as inclined to speak, so Sakura's views were much distorted at the beginning. From the stories she did hear, the men and women never had to ask each other about how something felt, or if it even mattered. They rarely seemed to talk, unless to say something vulgar and tasteless. Men were always a mixture of incredible strength and expertise, while women had to hold on to their sanity.

Syaoran wasn't like anything she had heard. There was no sense of domination in his moves, much less of expertise and strength. There was a hesitance in everything he did, and uncertainty when he actually did them. She was certain that he expected her to slap him and send him away the moment he pushed her down.

He stirred, and Sakura hoped he would not awake.

"Shh, Syaoran-kun" she said, just like she said last night.

His eyes did not open, and he was fully asleep once more.

That was what Sakura had to say last night, among other reassurances. There were moments when he was bold, which Sakura found exhilarating. It was after those moments when she voiced something that he would become more assured of himself.

One thing that Syaoran did which she never heard in the stories was ask her how this felt, how that felt. Was that right? Where his hands calloused? Did she like that? Syaoran questions had the unexpected result of calming her down. He was just like her, just as curious, just as amazed at what they were doing.

Being with Syaoran did cement some emotions within her. She liked him more than she previously thought. She had to; else she would have never pulled him inside her room and kissed him.

There were mistakes on her part. Syaoran was kinder and gentler than all the stories, which Sakura was more grateful for than she could have ever put into words. With what she had done, or not done, she expected him to leave during the night. There were frightening moments where she did not know what to do, at which point Syaoran would say something, and then everything was alright.

Syaoran was awaking up.

She wished he would not. It was nice, just the way they were, with her laying so close to him. It was almost peaceful, and everything else did not have as much importance as right now. Fai, Kurogane, and Mokona did not know anything, and Sakura was glad. The moment was hers, and she wanted to keep it that way.

His eyes opened up. Sakura watched him for his reaction, waiting to see what he would say. She knew him well; he would apologize, for what she couldn't begin to guess. Syaoran estimated his own worth far below than he should. He would worry that she hated him, and that all he did last night meant nothing. Sakura hated this part of him and did not understand it.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his eyes becoming glassy. "I...I never..."

"Never what?" Sakura asked, watching his eyes. "Never meant this?"

He moved his body a little away from hers. "I have no right, Princess." He was becoming more distant as he continued, "If the king were to-"

"No one knows, Syaoran-kun." She reached out for his arm and pulled him back. "What we did belongs to us."

It was the wrong answer. He jerked his arm out of her grasp. "You belong to your country, Princess. I promised I would bring you back."

It was the part of him that she hated coming out and commanding his words. Though he had more memories than she did, Sakura could not but feel that at the moment she was older than he. Syaoran took things too greatly, and he would mull them over in his mind until he was mad.

The longer she let him move away from her, the more he would back himself into a corner of pity and despair. So Sakura reached for him once more, thinking, 'If this fails, then I do not know him at all', and instead of letting him move away again, she pulled him close and hugged him.

"Shhhh, Syaoran," she whispered in his ear, feeling his chest rise and fall more quickly. "I don't regret last night."

It would take time, Sakura knew, before they would get to a point where they were both comfortable. She would learn from the many mistakes she made the night before, and so hoped that Syaoran would not leave her side like this morning again. It did hurt, and she did not understand why he said such things, but she would learn, perhaps, someday.

* * *

Author's Note: This is a one shot reply to my last chapter. I feel that the overall effect of the last chapter was lost in this reply. My writting, I feel, just did not carry over as well as I would have liked. However, what you have in front of you is the fourth attempt. The other three were simply not up to standards, and while their storyline might have been better than this, the overrall character of Sakura worked the best here. 

A big thanks to the reviewers of this chapter,and a special thanks Sunder the Gold for challenging me to write a reply to my last chapter. Hopefully this clears things up a bit.


	10. Ch9 Eye of the Beholder

The Challenge: Explore the term: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Create a fic where the image of beauty is different from what the characters are used to. 

Rating: T

Genre: um...general.

Characters: Sakura is the viewpoint character, while Syaoran, Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona are added in for salt and flavoring

Length: 2765 words total. Not a bad amount, considering.

* * *

In the middle of the market square of the town of Mubai, our four travelers found themselves in the very center of the commotion. They were standing on a small wooden stage; bond together by long chains attached to their hands and feet. 

"Alright, alright," shouted a barrel-chested man in long maroon colored robes, the conductor of this odd symphony. "Next up we have four slaves! Freshly caught and well worth their weight in Mubies!"

Mubies was the currency of the area, and as people gathered around the stage, Sakura could see they all had their hands on their pouches. Pickpockets ran rampant in this world, as she already had the misfortune to discover.

The chain beside her rattled. "Don't worry, Your Highness. We'll get out of this one, I promise." Syaoran smiled at her, the dirt on his face making his teeth seem much whiter than they actually were. His face was sunburn, as they all were, but somehow he still managed to look handsome. Dirty, yes, but handsome.

She gave him a weak nod, saying, "Yes, I know...," She looked around the crowd, at the other people eyeing her and gripped the chains tighter. They weren't especially frightening, but given her current position everyone in the square scared her.

"Syaoran-kun..."

"Yes?"

"I want to say I'm sorry..." She felt her eyes begin to water, "I didn't mean for us to lose those papers, really. It just, I never thought, I--"

"It was a pickpocket, Your Highness. It could have happened to any one of us." By us, he meant himself, Kurogane-san, and Fai-san.

_But it wouldn't happen to you_, she thought. _You would have felt a hand dipping into your bag and grabbing the only bit of document that separated you from freedom. Because of me, look where we are._

"I'm sorry." She said again, more for herself than anything. "...I feel so useless..."

"It's alright--"

"Will you guys shut the hell up?" Shot out Kurogane's sharp tone. He gave the chain a good tug, making it rattle all the way down to Sakura. "I gotta hear what's going on, or else you can kiss our plans goodbye."

"As long as they don't separate us we should be alright, plans or no plans." Added in Fai. Sakura couldn't see him, given that in Syaoran-kun stood next to her, who stood next to Kurogane, who stood next to Fai, though she imagined his reassuring eyes looking at her.

"Right! No separate Mokona from others!" Mokona's small voice whispered from inside of Syaoran's tunic.

"I swear, if I hear one more word from any of you I'll kick you into the next damn dimension, no Mokona needed!" Growled Kurogane, his sneer directed at Syaoran's abdominal area where Mokona was hiding.

Syaoran was the natural holder of the dimension creature, given how slim he was and the tunic he was wearing was prefect for concealing. All the tunics seemed to be only one size only, made out of a strong, but very scratchy material. It was not so much a tunic as a bag with holes cut in for the head and arms and a belt of rope to tie around their midsection. The only one who did not have a tunic on was Kurogane, who wore only his long black pants, given that his upper half was too large for any tunic the slavers had.

"...these two are full grown, perfect for manual labor," the conductor walked from the front of the platform to where the four prisoners stood. "Come on now," he hissed loud enough only for them to hear, "make a good show or else you can forget about staying together!"

From the corner of her eye, Syaoran shrugged. He tugged on the chains and led the four of them up toward the front of the stage, closer to the buyers. The stage was surrounded on three sides by more than one hundred people, all here to buy or sell. It was getting noisier and hotter as the midday sun appeared overhead.

Sakura walked up, trying to remain as composed as possible. She hated the tunic, but the humiliation was almost unbearable. If it weren't for Syaoran's sunny disposition, she would have completely lost her senses.

The conductor moved first to Fai. "Manual labor is a good choice for this man, for he has strong legs and--"

"But weak arms!" shouted someone from the crowd. "Yes, those arms look small. Can he even lift a sword?"."He's not made for labor! Get him off!" "He looks weak, like a _woman_!" The calls and shouts from the crowd clearly angered the conductor. His large turned red and for a moment he looked at Fai in a disgusting way.

"This next man," spat the conductor as he pointed his hand toward Kurogane, "Excellent fighting skills! Prefect for guarding livestock. He is a large man, too, good for farm work."

"Let's see him then!" "Yes! Someone give him a sword and let's see him fight!" "We don't want weak slaves!" "He looks weak, too." "Ugly and tall!"

The conductor let the voices ring out their cries. Ever the master of the stage, he moved backwards until one of the stagehands handed him a sword. "You want to see him fight?" Shouted the conductor, waving the long sword around. The crowd shouted back their answers. "Yes! Put a sword on him!" "See if he can fight!" "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Alright. Here, catch!" The conductor threw the sword at Kurogane, who caught it with gentle ease. Felting the hilt of the sword seemed to put Kurogane in a lighter mood, for his gave his distinct grin; upper lip cocked up in a smug half-sneer and showing one canine tooth.

"Come on now!"

Kurogane's eyes glinted with glee, and he took the sword into his right hand. Despite its heavy weight, the muscles in Kurogane's arm did not even bulge. In one swift movement, he threw the sword up into the air, making it twirl once...twice...three times. The sword, ten feet up in the air, was heading back toward the ground, with the blade headfirst. It dived for Kurogane's feet. In a moments flash, just before the sword was about to cut off his toes, he snatched the hilt and swung it around his back, catching it again with his right hand.

The crowd gave a roar of applause and cheered.

"YES! YES!" The conductor threw his hands up into the air, cheering along with the crowd. "Now, we have only one more to get to before the bidding starts."

_Only one? What?_ Thought Sakura. _But there are two more people, Syaoran-kun and I. What is going on?_

The conductor, took caught up in his joy at the crowd sudden enthusiasm, left the sword with Kurogane and moved down past Syaoran, who eyes followed the man with a hawks focus, to Sakura.

"...And here we have the one and only female of the group."

Sakura felt the sun on her face and shoulders now more than ever as the eyes of over one hundred people looked at her, scrutinizing her every inch of skin they could see. The only thing to bring her any comfort was the fact that the tunic did cover much, besides her shoulders and arms and her legs from the knee down. Many of the people in the crowd were shaking their heads, some were nodding, and others were looking at the conductor, waiting.

The murmur of the crowd's displeasure grew, and the conductor quickly started his play on words, hoping for one last big sale.

"Now, my friends, I know this female is...well, ugly." The words stung Sakura deeper than she thought it would. "Filthy green eyes, yes, and sick-looking skin, but I can assure you, she is healthy." The conductor grabbed her arm and pulled her sharply forward to the edge of the stage, "Ah, but look! Soft hands! She is good for child rearing, and taking care of children."

A woman within the market shouted at the conductor, "Ay, but what can she do! I don't want my children around such an ugly thing!" "Yes! Yes! Haven't you got any _pretty_ slaves?" The murmurs grew louder as the conductor struggled to keep the people under his control.

"So she's ugly! Put her out to the pasture, and have her work! She is a fast learner, and a quick runner."

Sakura wanted to crawl under a rock and diminish. It was horrible! Those things the people said! How could they? Had they no heart?

"Yes, she is unusually skinny. She'll live for at least a year. Look at her legs, strong thighs, no?"

The bidding started now. Various people raised their hands, though most did not want the 'odd' and _'ugly'_ strangers. The conductor was still in good spirits, mostly because of Kurogane's show.

"100 Mubies!" "110 Mubies!" "112 Mubies!" "123 Mubies!" "130!" and so on until at long last one man stuck his hand up and called out, "230 Mubies!"

"SOLD!" The conductor swept up his arms in a gallant gesture and made an 'X'. "This bidding is officially closed! Next slaves!"

They were quickly pushed off to the side of the stage, unaware of who 'bought' the four of them. The next group of slaves was coming up onto the stage just as a stagehand came up to them.

"Come along," said the stagehand, a young man with dog like appearance. His scarce facial hair covered some pink scar lines, Sakura saw as she led the group following the stagehand. "Your new master is waiting for you."

Sakura did not care. All she wanted was this world to be over with. However, she knew that a feature was still out there, waiting to be returned.

_I__t is just _one_ feather, right? After all, I have a lot of them already. What if we just skip this one and move on?_

No, that couldn't be done. Syaoran-kun had worked too hard for her. She did not even want to think about his reaction if she suggested they skip this world's feather. As for Fai and Kurogane, well, she knew that they would not say anything outright, at first, but they were almost just as determined to find her feathers, if not more so. She felt shamed that she even thought of such a horrible idea.

The dog-faced stagehand led them out of the market down a beaten dirt street that was hidden behind the stage. As the shouts and screams of the people died away, Sakura could feel herself relax a bit. The weight of the chains was unpleasant, but now that they were away from the throngs of people, she felt much better.

"Mokona," she heard Syaoran-kun whisper behind her, "You o.k. with it in your mouth?"

_Huh?_ Thought Sakura, turning around to ask what Syaoran-kun meant, but before she could even turn her head was interrupted.

"Alright," said the dog-man. They had stopped in one of the many side streets, away from public view. In front of her was a large, but overly simple, carriage. A big cloth covered the outer frame of the back of the carriage, with the front end open. "Your new slaves, mistress."

"Thank you," said a very feminine voice that carried over to Sakura like a breath of cool air. A petite young girl with raven hair stepped out from behind the carriage. Dressed in a simple dark blue robe that radiated her important stature, Tomoyo came toward them. "It was kind of you to bring them. Here you are," she handed the dog-man a coin.

Sakura watched Tomoyo's face for any hint of recognition. It was not the first time that she had seen versions of people she knew and, even worse so, occasionally had to fight against. Caution was always the best thing to have in these situations. From previous experiences, even a once friendly face could become a nightmare.

"Slaves!" Barked Tomoyo,"Get in the back!"

Sakura looked back at the others, who all had the same look she did. Syaoran-kun gave her a small smile, walking up to the back of the carriage and holding out his hand.

"After you, Your Highness," he whispered, bowing his head the slightest bit.

Feeling a blush coming on, she accepted his hand and jumped onto the hard floorboards. Syaoran-kun and the others followed in after, their chains rattling as they moved. The back was small, and though there was shade provided by the cloth above their heads, it did not do much to cool them from the heat. Outside, there were a few more words exchanged between Tomoyo and the man, then the clinks and clangs of a money purse being exchanged.

"Thank you," came Tomoyo's voice from the side of the carriage, and she moved then around to the back. The soft sounds of her feet shuffled the dirt as she came to the back opening of the carriage. She made a quick inspection, glancing at Kurogane and Fai-san and Syaoran-kun for the briefest of moments. When her glaze landed on Sakura, it lingered there for a bit, and Sakura swore she saw a small wink.

"LET'S MOVE!" Shouted Tomoyo, leaving quickly. Horses were heard being brought up to hook onto the carriage and then they were off. The whole ordeal had lasted only minutes.

Sakura wanted to talk the moment they began moving, but kept her mouth shut. She remembered how Kurogane-san once explained the value of patience.

"Always wait before doing anything. A rash action here equals death. I don't know about you, but I can't die just yet. So don't be stupid, else your cover is gone, and then you'll have me to deal with," this was originally said to Fai-san in one of his more annoying moments, but Sakura thought it applied here just as well.

She settled herself in for the ride, her stomach no more in any knots. _Tomoyo is on our side, I just know it_, she thought, thinking of the small wink the girl gave her. _So, we're fine. In the end, this all worked out, expect..._

"Syaoran-kun?" she whispered to the boy sitting next to her. Kurogane and Fai-san were opposite them, Fai-san already asleep on Kurogane's shoulder, or pretending to do so.

"Hm?"

"What did you ask Mokona about, right before we saw Tomoyo-chan?"

His face broke into another smile, "Oh. Mokona took the sword before the traders could get it back. One of her secret techniques, I guess." he whispered, his breath tickling the inside of her ear.

"oh," replied Sakura, distracted slightly.

She settled herself against the hard wood of the wagon. The journey had long instilled within her the notion to sleep and eat whenever possible, in case it was her last of either. Just as she let her head down and almost tucked her chin into the nock in her collarbone, someone nudged her.

Syaoran was looking at her. His brown eyes flashed to Kurogane and Fai-san. Sakura imitated his eye movements. Fai and Kurogane were both busy, one playing with Mokona and the other sleeping, respectively.

Syaoran lowered his mouth toward her ear once more and Sakura could smell his scent. He smelled of sweat, but it wasn't overpowering, it was a nice, manly smell.

"You know, Your Highness...," he started.

_Yes?_ Sakura felt herself ask, his mouth visible just from the corner of her eye.

He seemed embarrassed to say what he wanted to, or so Sakura fantasized.

"Your Highness, I just wanted to say, and I hope it is not out of line," he paused again, his lips parted for a intake of hot air, "...that you're beautiful."

"What?" Her heart was beating up against her chest, growing loud and faster within her.

"I felt horrible when you were up on the stage, and I just wanted to let you know that no matter what world we land in, to me...and to your people of Clow, you are beautiful."

_The pause between his words_, she wondered, _was that deliberate, or did he mean everything he just said? _Sakura's mind whirled around long after Syaoran moved his mouth away from her ear and fell asleep soon after. As she put her head down on his shoulder, her thoughts turned towards beauty and she wondered what other kinds of beauty were there to be seen on this trip.

_I don't really care anymore_, realized Sakura, touching Syaoran's arm as she closed her eyes. _I have one person who thinks I'm pretty, and right now, I' m content._

She fell asleep with a smile on her face.


End file.
